Bill Radke

Host, KUOW's Morning Newsmagazine

Bill Radke hosts KUOW's morning newsmagazine — as he did 20 years ago! Bill was KUOW's morning host in the '90s, and then he created Rewind, a news-satire show heard on KUOW and nationwide on NPR. Next, Bill moved away to Southern California to host American Public Media's Weekend America and Marketplace Morning Report. He returned to Seattle in 2010, hosting on KIRO-FM for two years. And now he's back home.

When Bill isn't on the air he's a keynote speaker, husband of Sara and daddy of three.

Ways To Connect

Plans for a new Seattle sports arena have hinged on getting an NBA team first, but this week Mayor Ed Murray said that a pro hockey team might be enough to move ahead with the deal. Bill Radke talks with KING 5 reporter Chris Daniels about what's changed between Seattle and the NHL.

In Holland, a woonerf is a living street. In Seattle, a woonerf is confusing – by design. We’ll explain. Also, should we build a new Sodo sports arena even without an NBA team? What's the right amount of paid parental leave? And, would you eat your coffee cup?

Today, the Federal Communications Commission approved net neutrality in a 3-2 vote. That means that Internet service providers, which includes cable companies like Comcast, can’t selectively slow down Internet data speeds in favor of paid fast lanes.

So what does that mean for consumers and companies in the Seattle area?

Is this week the re-birth of Bertha? What’s the right punishment for a florist who won’t do gay weddings? And a Bellevue man is on the short list to go to Mars and never return. You’ll meet him, along with Q13 FOX’s C.R. Douglas, Jonathan Martin of the Seattle Times and the Seattle Channel's Joni Balter.

The same question goes for non-vaccinating parents: What’s the right strategy? Also: yet another questionable fatal police shooting, this time in our state. And what will politics be like without comedic news anchors John Stewart and Stephen Colbert? Finally, Seattle has a new earthquake alert, what will you do with your five seconds?

We expose you to just enough of the Seahawks' Super Bowl XLIX loss for your antibodies to fight it off. Also, why is the UW president leaving urban Seattle for the Aggies? Why do some rural Washington lawmakers want to split from the urban westside? Should I-405 include a thruway for the rich? And does Washington state need to save daylight?

Seahawks fever is alive and well across the state, with cities taking on nicknames in advance of the new name: Shermmamish, Pete Angeles, Hawkilteo. We could go on… and we will. Also, this week: Why did a Seattle police officer hassle a 69-year-old man over a golf club? Will Washington state abolish the death penalty? Should cyclists have to pay a toll to roll on the new 520 bridge? And why is Bill Gates worried about artificial intelligence?

Bill Radke makes sense of these stories and more with Crosscut's Knute Berger, The Stranger's Eli Sanders and news analyst Joni Balter.

Washington state considers raising the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21 -- the highest in the country. Plus: deflated footballs, deflated employment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Seattle’s cutest mobster and a sad farewell to talking about the Kalakala ferry.

Opening arguments start today in King County Superior Court in the trial of Christopher Monfort, accused of killing Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton in 2009. If found guilty, Monfort could face the death penalty. Bill Radke talks with KUOW reporter Amy Radil ahead of the trial.

State lawmakers begin a high-stakes legislative session today with big decisions to make on how to pay for roads, transit and schools. Bill Radke finds out what to watch for on day one from KUOW's Olympia correspondent, Austin Jenkins.

What's the Seattle connection to this week's attack on a French satirical magazine? Is it time to start thinking about a Plan B for Bertha, the slumbering tunnel machine? And should we open an Ivar's fish and chips bar inside the aging Kalakala ferry instead of cutting it apart with a blowtorch?

Bill Radke reviews the week's news along with news analyst Joni Balter, Crosscut's Knute Berger, former Seattle mayor Charles Royer and special guest chef Matt Dillon in front of a live audience at The Little London Plane in Pioneer Square.

Yes, you're loud. But it's not drowning out the opposing team or pumping up Marshawn Lynch that's giving the Seahawks an edge at home. Bill Radke talks with Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim about what home-field advantage really boils down to.

It's not every week we get the chance to say "beard diaper" on the radio (it has to do with a story about ice cream and facial hair). Also making news this week: new laws and a new lawsuit. And what were the most important and most over-covered stories of 2014? Plus, the Seattle Seahawks and Macklemore: still a big deal in 2015?

It was a year of soaring profits for Boeing and Microsoft, rapid expansion for Amazon and anguish for Boeing machinists. KUOW's economy reporter Carolyn Adolph tells Bill Radke how the Puget Sound region's major employers fared in 2014.